Moraine Park - Where Alpine Beauty Begins

"Moraine Park"

During the early winter, ice chips are sprayed down from the Great Divide into the Moraine Park Valley. Heavy clouds lurk towards the horizon erasing from view the big peaks that confine the isolated meadow.

The glacial gorge was gradually created by the corrosive forces of ice, wind and rain. One of the eroded land’s last dynamic remnants is a wild, winding river known as the Big Thompson.

At this point in its course, the creek meanders lazily through the gentle grassland. Some of the most distinguishing features are the protruding boulders that seem to stand upright during the season’s low tide.

The yellow-ochre field is gouged by muddy, black banks that slide into the sandbars of rocky rubble. Tangled rows of red-violet willows adorn the deep fringes of this gorgeous waterway.

It’s a heavenly region tucked away high in the northern Rockies where Colorado’s alpine beauty begins. As the grandeur continues to sprawl south, there are innumerable nooks and crannies that are going to take more than a lifetime to explore.

Early winter

Moraine Park Valley

Heavy clouds lurk

Big peaks confine the meadow

A dynamic remnant

A wild river

Alpine beauty

Ice chips

Big Thompson River

Meandering lazily

Sandbars of rocky rubble

Gouged through an ochre field

Muddy, black river bank

A heavenly region

A lifetime to explore

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